Rusty Staub (#300)

Continuing with the "hero numbers", today we have #300....Rusty Staub?!?

If I was compiling a list of "hero status" players from the late 1960s (and here's 58 names to get you started), I'm not sure Rusty Staub would be in my top 50, let alone the top 5. Yes, he was a good player, and one of the best 2 or 3 on the Astros at that time, but in the top 5 (for #100, 200, 300, 400 ,500)?

Here we see Rusty in Topps' patented 1968-69 Astros' regalia. (They forgot to airbrush-out the reflection of the Astros' logo on the helmet bill!) Staub is entering his final year in Houston, as he would become the Montreal Expos' "Le Grand Orange" in 1969.

Staub was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1961 (before they even fielded a major-league team). He spent the 1962 season as a 1st baseman in class-B. Rusty made his big-league debut in April 1963 at age 19, starting 2/3 of his games at 1B and 1/3 in right field.

He was the starting 1st baseman for the first half of 1964, but lost the job to Walt Bond in early July. Rusty was the team's regular right fielder from 1965-67, then moved in to 1st base for the 1968 season.

In January 1969, he was traded to the expansion Expos for outfielder Jesus Alou and 1st baseman Donn Clendenon. When Clendenon refused to report (having had enough of manager Harry Walker while both were with the Pirates), the Expos sent pitchers Jack Billingham and Skip Guinn. Staub was an immediate hit in Montreal (see comment #5 here). Dubbed "Le Grand Orange", he was one of the Expos' bright spots in their early years. In his 3 seasons with the Expos, he averaged 160 games played as the team's right fielder, and made the all-star team each year.

Staub played right field for the Mets from 1972-75, then 3 1/2 seasons with the Tigers (as the right fielder in 1976, then the DH for the other years).

In July '79, he returned to Montreal for the remainder of the season. After one season (1980) with the Rangers, Staub spent the rest of his career (1981-85) with the Mets, mostly as a pinch-hitter.

Orlando Cepeda (#200)

Card #200 in the 1968 set is Orlando Cepeda. Good choice! Cepeda was the 1967 NL MVP, led the league with 111 RBI, bashed 25 homers, and bat .325 during the season (although only .103 in the World Series).

Orlando was signed by the New York Giants in 1955. After 3 seasons in the minors, Cepeda began the 1958 season with San Francisco, and started 147 games at first base, en route to winning the Rookie of the Year award (only the 2nd player to win unanimously).

In late-July 1959, the Giants called up rookie Willie McCovey, moving Cepeda to left field for the rest of the season. Cepeda played most of 1960 in left field, but when McCovey spent the 2nd half of the season in the minors and on the Giants' bench, Orlando reclaimed the 1st base job.

He split the 1961 season between 1B and LF, and led the NL in home rums (46) and RBI (142). Cepeda returned to his old 1st base job for the 1962-64 seasons, but missed most of the 1965 season with a knee injury.

Orlando was traded to the Giants in May 1966 for pitcher Ray Sadecki. He spent 3 seasons in St. Louis (including his MVP season in '67 and World Series appearances in '67 and '68).

During spring training 1969, he was traded to the Braves for catcher Joe Torre. He had another big power season in 1970 (34, 111), then was traded to the Athletics in July 1972 for pitcher Denny McLain.

Cepeda only played 3 games with the A's when a knee injury ended his season. Released after the season, he hooked on with the Red Sox when the AL instituted the DH before the 1973 season. He DH'ed in 142 games, but never played the field or pinch-hit that season.

He was released after the 1973 season, and spent most of 1974 playing in Mexico, until the Royals signed him for the final two months of the season.

Cepeda was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Veterans Committee.

Frank Robinson (#500)

Continuing the mini-series on "cards ending with "00", here is #500 Frank Robinson.

I have to take issue with Topps' selection of Robinson. Wasn't #500 the ultimate "hero number" back in the day? ( In 1969, Mickey Mantle's final card was #500.)

Prior to the 1966 season, Robinson came over to the Orioles in a big trade with Cincinnati. In his first season with the O's, he won the Triple Crown, the AL MVP, and the World Series MVP.

Still, that was 2 years ago, and since then Carl Yastrzemski won the 1967 Triple Crown and played in the World Series, and several members of the world champion Cardinals (Bob Gibson, Orlando Cepeda) had monster years. Was Topps making amends for "only" giving Robby #100 in the 1967 set?
 

Robinson was signed by the Reds in 1953, and after 3 seasons in the minors, he spent 10 full seasons as a regular with Cincinnati.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 1956, and the NL MVP in 1961.

He played in 4 World Series during his six seasons with Baltimore. In 1972 he began bouncing around to several teams as his playing career wound down: Dodgers ('72), Angels ('73, '74), and Indians ('74-'76).

He also managed the Indians (1975-77), Giants (1981-84), Orioles (1988-91), and the Expos/Nationals (2002-06).  In 16 seasons as manager, his teams finished as high as 2nd place twice.

Mike McCormick (#400)

Now that we've finished with the Topps All-Rookie Team, let's check out the stars with '00' card numbers. Topps made a curious selection for some of their superstars (some folks refer to them as "hero cards"). 

#100 - Bob Gibson - of the world champion Cardinals 
#200 - Orlando Cepeda - see Bob Gibson 
#300 - Rusty Staub - huh? 
#400 - Mike McCormick - see below 
#500 - Frank Robinson - yeah, Robby won the triple crown in 1966, but what about the 1967 triple crown winner, who also won the AL MVP with 98% of the vote? 

Carl Yastrzemski was relegated to #250, while veterans Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were #50 and #280 respectively.


In December 1966, Mike McCormick was traded by the Washington Senators to the Giants for pitcher Bob Priddy and outfielder Cap Peterson. Because Priddy and McCormick's 1967 cards were in the first series, they were still shown as members of their former teams, although some versions of their cards include a traded note on the back.

What did Mike do after escaping the DC Zoo? He led the NL with 22 wins in 1967, and was named the NL Cy Young Award winner, getting 18 of the 20 first place votes. The Sporting News also named him the NL Comeback Player of the Year.

McCormick was signed by the New York Giants in 1956, after posting a 49-4 record in American Legion ball, and as a "bonus baby", went straight to the parent club. He made his major-league debut at age 17 on September 3rd, and pitched 6 innings over 3 games that year. In 1957, he appeared in 24 games, working mostly in relief.

When the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, Mike joined the starting rotation, and won in double-digits for the next 4 seasons. He led the NL with a 2.70 ERA in 1960, and made the all-star team in '60 and '61.

After a down year in 1962, McCormick was traded to the Orioles with reliever Stu Miller and catcher John Orsino for pitchers Jack Fisher and Billy Hoeft, and catcher Jimmie Coker.

After 2 uneventful seasons with the Orioles (including spending much of 1964 in triple-A, his first taste of the minor leagues), Mike was dumped on the Senators for a minor-league pitcher and cash. He played in 40-plus games in each of his 2 seasons with the Senators, starting 50% in '65 an 75% in '66.

Returning to the National League in 1967 worked wonders for McCormick. He, Juan Marichal, and Gaylord Perry formed the big 3 in the Giants' rotation until Mike's July 1970 trade to the Yankees.

1971 was a traveling year for him: released by the Yankees in March, signed by the Royals in April, then released again on June 2nd. His final big-league game was on May 22, 1971.

Mike was signed by the Giants the following spring, but spent the 1972-73 seasons in the minors, before retiring.

Dick Hughes (#253)

Today I’m featuring the last of the 1967 Topps All-Rookie selections. Normally, 10 players were selected (including 1 left and 1 right handed pitcher). In the 1968 set, Topps not only left the cool trophy off 3 of the cards, but they decided that Dick Hughes would share the right-handed pitcher slot with Tom Seaver. (Imagine!)


Hughes was signed by the Cardinals in 1958, but was a late-bloomer, pitching 9 seasons in the minors before reaching the majors in September 1966 at age 28.

He had a phenomenal rookie season for the World Champion Cardinals in 1967, compiling a 16-6 record in 37 games (including 27 starts), while leading the staff in wins and innings pitched. (Bob Gibson missed a month of the season with a broken leg.) Dick finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting to Seaver.

Hughes spent most of the 1968 season in the bullpen, starting just 5 of his 25 games, and finishing at 2-2 in only 63 innings of work. What a difference a year makes! In the 1967 World Series, Dick started 2 games. In ’68, he pitched 1/3 of an inning in relief against the Tigers.

I’m guessing he had arm troubles, because he spent the 1969 season playing in the single-A Florida State League, then was out of baseball at the ripe old age of 31.

Rich Nye (#339)

For some unknown reason, three of the players on the 1967 Topps all-rookie team do not have trophies on their card. I have previously posted the card for outfielder Rick Monday, leaving only pitchers Rich Nye and Dick Hughes to complete the subset.

Rich Nye was the lefthanded pitcher chosen for the 1967 Topps all-rookie team. Nye pitched from 1966-70, although his primary years were 1967-69 for the Cubs.

Rich was drafted by the Astros in 1965, but did not sign. He was signed by the Cubs in 1966, while pitching for UC Berkeley. Nye pitched for the Cubs' rookie and class-A teams that summer, then joined the big club in September.

After 2 relief appearances in 1967, Nye joined the starting rotation on April 30th, after other starters went by the wayside. He finished his rookie season with 13 wins and 119 strikeouts in 205 innings. All three of those numbers placed him 2nd on the staff, behind sophomore Fergie Jenkins. Topps apparently took notice (despite the missing trophy).

Nye slipped to 7-12 in 1968, and dropped to #5 in the rotation, behind Jenkins, Bill Hands, Ken Holtzman, and Joe Niekro. 1969 was worse yet, as he was relegated to the bullpen, making only 5 starts among his 34 appearances.

After the season, he was traded to the Cardinals for outfielder Boots Day. (Philly trivia: As a Montreal Expo in 1971, Boots was the first batter in Veterans Stadium history.) After 6 relief appearances (totaling 8 innings), Rich was sold to the Expos on May 15th, where he made 6 starts and 2 relief appearances. He was also used as a pinch-runner twice, and spent time with the Expos' AAA team in Winnipeg.

He played for three AAA teams (Expos, Indians, Pirates) in 1971, before his career was ended by a torn rotator cuff.

After his playing career, Nye began working as a civil engineer, before becoming a veterinarian.

A Rich Nye story here

 

Reggie Smith (#61)

Since I posted Walt Williams' card some time ago, I'm skipping ahead to center fielder Reggie Smith.

Reggie Smith was the starting center fielder for the AL champion Red Sox during his rookie season. His rookie card appears in the 1967 set. My guess is that it's the 3rd most valuable rookie card (after Tom Seaver and Rod Carew) because unlike most Rookie Stars cards that include a hit and a miss (or 2 misses), it portrays 2 starting position players for the AL champs.

Smith was signed by the Twins in June 1963, and played 65 games as a shortstop for their rookie-level team. After the season he was selected by the Red Sox in the first-year player draft.

Reggie played 3 seasons in Boston's farm system, as an outfielder for 430 games, but also saw time at 3rd base (66 games) and 2nd base (37 games). He made his debut with the Red Sox in September 1966, playing in 6 games.

Smith began the 1967 season as the starting 2nd baseman, but after 6 games he was moved to center field (replacing Jose Tartabull) and went on to start 139 games in Center that season. Reggie finished 2nd to Rod Carew in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, and was 6-for-24 with 2 homers in the '67 World Series.

Reggie was a starting outfielder for the Sox from 1967 through 1973, usually the center fielder, except for the first half of 1971 (Smith played right, with Billy Conigliaro in center) and all of 1972, when he was the regular right fielder (with Tommy Harper in center). He also made the '69 and '72 all-star teams, and led the AL in doubles in '68 and '71.

After the 1973 season, Reggie was traded to the Cardinals (with pitcher Ken Tatum) for pitcher Rick Wise and outfielder Bernie Carbo. His stay in St. Louis lasted 2 1/2 seasons. In '74 he was the right fielder, and in '75 split his time between RF and 1st base. Smith made the NL all-star team in both his full seasons with the Cards.

He was traded to the Dodgers in June 1976 for catcher Joe Ferguson. Smith was with the Dodgers for 5 1/2 seasons, making the all-star team 3 more times (for a total of 7 appearances).

His final major-league season was spent with the Giants in 1982 as their first baseman.

Smith played 2 more seasons in Japan before retiring.

Bobby Etheridge (#126)

Third baseman Bobby Etheridge joins his Giants' teammate Dick Dietz on the 1967 Topps All-Rookie team.

Etheridge was signed by the Giants in 1964, and played in their farm system from 1964-68. He joined the Giants in mid-July 1967, and played 40 games in his rookie season, mostly in July and August. (In late August, Jim Ray Hart moved back in to 3rd base from left field, and Etheridge rarely played in September.) Somehow, Bobby got the all-rookie nod, over other rookie 3rd basemen like Aurelio Rodriguez and Sal Bando.

Bobby was back in the minors for all of 1968, then returned to the Giants for the entire 1969 season, this time playing in 56 games (with 34 starts at 3B).

That was it for Etheridge, both as a Giant and as a major-league player. After the season, he was traded to the Padres along with pitcher Ron Herbel and catcher Bob Barton for pitcher Frank Reberger.

Bobby played in the minors though the 1973 season, with the Padres', Cardinals', and Mets' organizations.